Daily Archives: December 29, 2009
According to 1050 ESPN Radio, Rich Coutinho reports the Mets are close to signing free-agent C Bengie Molina to a two-year deal.
Earlier today, WFAN’s Mike Francesa said Molina still wants a three-year contract, while the Mets had only offered a one-year deal, with a vesting option for 2011.
Last week, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com said there are indications Molina might be willing to accept a two-year contract.
…in the days following the Winter Meetings, word was molina was seeking a three-year, $20 million contract, which is laughable… but, that would suggest he’s asking for around $6.5 million per season… so, let’s assume the Mets and molina could meet in the middle, say, two years and $13 million… i still think that is way, way too much for a guy who is only marginally better at the plate than what they had last season, but who is significantly slower and 36 years old… yes, i know, i know, he works well with the pitching staff, and the Mets feel he and Henry Blanco can grab hold of Mike Pelfrey, Oliver Perez and John Maine, in a way that will be worth much of his salary… but, it’s just so difficult to see how one year from now, the Mets aren’t scrambling to try to unload a 37–year-old catcher making $6.5 million for 2011, you know what i mean…
Updated at 3:11 pm:
…earlier today, i said the Mets and Jason Bay likely agreed to a four-year deal, worth around $16.5 million per season…
According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the deal is for four-years, $66 million, but also contains an easily-attainable option for a fifth season.
Sherman says the physical might not be a formality, writing:
“There has been a lot of talk in the sport that the Red Sox were hesitant to do a long-term deal with Bay because they were concerned about the health of his shoulders.”
Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com believes the vesting option could make the deal worth $80 million.
Updated at 2:26 pm:
…like i said before, word from people around bay has been that he is close to agreeing to a four-year deal… i’m glad to see the Mets did not give in to the fifth year… instead, it seems they goosed up the amount of money per season, from, say, $16 million, to, say, $16.5 million… i also believe the deal will be backloaded, with bay getting around $10 million in the first year, and close to $19 million per season in the final years of the contract…
…i still believe Matt Holliday will prove to be the better player, long-term… but, bay for four years is not bad… especially if it is actually backloaded and still allows the team to fill in with some role players, like i had been suggesting towards the end of last week…
…also, for what it’s worth, in talking with people close to bay, i never got the impression he was uninterested in signing with the Mets… i think that was just a logical conclusion for fans and reporters… in reality, he was simply trying to milk as much money as he could, with so little leverage… i mean, with the Cardinals the only other team looking to pay big bucks for an outfielder, bay’s only leverage was time, and hoping the Mets got antsy, or might cave in to public pressure… that was his only card, and so he used it…
…i don’t think it was personal, or for fear of playing in Queens… he was just trying to get paid as much as he could, using the only tool available to him: time…
Original Post:
WFAN’s Mike Francesa says the Mets will announce the signing of free-agent OF Jason Bay early next week, assuming all goes well with his physical.
…from what i can gather, the deal will likely be for four years, and around $16.5 million…
…so, i guess that’s the news the team is hoping to break soon after the New Year, like i alluded to in the previous post…
He says free-agent C Bengie Molina is still holding out for a guaranteed, three-year deal, but the Mets have so far only offered a one-year contract with a vesting option.
Updated at 1:05 pm:
During the opening monologue of his show, which you can listen to at WFAN.com, Mike Francesa said, “I promised you some Mets news, and I will deliver,” later in the show.
Original Post:
I still have no idea what Mike Francesa is talking about when he says he’ll have a ‘major, major update,’ on the Mets, during his show today on WFAN at 1 pm.
That said, in my conversations with people close to the team, I believe they might be getting close to an acquisition or two, and they are ‘hoping’ to make news at some point soon after the New Year.
Additionally, people close to free-agent OF Jason Bay say he is close to accepting a four-year contract, worth roughly $16.5 million per season, though they’re not being clear with whom he intends to sign.
Of course, those numbers do sound a lot like the contract reportedly offered to him from the Mets. Or, perhaps some other team got in the mix? Though, I can’t believe the Mets would let $250,000 per season get in the way of beating a competing offer, assuming Bay is their primary target. Or, maybe the Mets quietly moved on, and plan to sign someone else? Who knows?
Nevertheless, it seems like something is brewing.
Jon Heyman of SI.com believes RHP Carlos Zambrano is ‘eminently available,’ as the Yankees definitely talked to the Cubs about him before acquiring Javier Vazquez from the Braves.
…in other words, he is very available…
Zambrano, who has a full no-trade clause, will earn roughly $18 million each of the next three seasons, and has a vesting player-option for 2012.
…and that’s the issue: it’s not if he’s available, or even ‘eminently available,’ it’s whether or not he’ll waive his no-trade clause, and word from Chicago is that zambrano has no interest in pitching for anyone other than the Cubs… and so, like i said a few weeks ago, in his case, like it essentially was with Johan Santana and Roy Halladay, the question is: a) does he want to leave Chicago, so much so that he’d waive his no-trade clause, and b) will he waive it to come to the Mets…
The 28–year-old Zambrano was just 9–7 in 28 starts this season for the Cubs, but with a 3.77 ERA in 169 innings, during which he struck out 152 batters.
Zambrano has not ended a season with an ERA over 4.00 since his rookie year in 2001.
In a post to Faith and Fear in Flushing, Greg Prince does a wonderful job writing about the ‘Best Moment of the Decade,’ when the Mets defeated the Cardinals in the 2000 NLCS.
…i was at that game, with my friend Johnny G, and my dad, sitting on the railing in Mezz 572… in fact, i spent so much of that fall, it seems, waiting outside of Shea Stadium for tickets, back when they used to do the Cattle Call… Dunkin Donuts Hot Chocolate never seemed good…
…the best part of the game was that the Mets were so far out in front, the crowd was counting down every out from the start of the eighth inning… it all seemed so inevitable… plus, everyone was so charged up after having seen Jay Payton get drilled by a fastball, then bounce up and stomp towards the mound clearing both benches… it really was a crazy, emotional, fun night… the sad thing is, it really does seem like nine years ago… man, it’s been a long nine years, hasn’t it…
Anthony McCarron of the Daily News quotes a team official as saying there is no chance of the Yankees signing either free-agent outfielder Jason Bay or Matt Holliday.
“Zero,” he told McCarron. “None. Underline it.”
…is there any doubt the Yankees are saving space and money to go bonkers for Carl Crawford, who will be a free agent next winter… ugh… earlier in the off season i recall hearing the Yankees would be willing to trade Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes to get crawford, and so if he was available in trade, i’m guessing we’d all know about it by now…
…as for holliday, i still believe, like i was saying back during the Winter Meetings, a team can get holliday if they step up and guarantee him six years, a no-trade clause and at least $100 million… but, since the only team really bidding on him is the Cardinals, there is no need for them to go to more than five years and, say, $16 million per season, which is what i believe to be their best offer… the problem for the Mets is, assuming they wanted to switch from Jason Bay to holliday is, the minute they offer a dollar more to holliday that St. Louis, his agent, Scott Boras, will just raise the price, and pit the Mets and Cardinals against one another… and, he’ll probably end up getting the six-year, $108 million deal anyway…
…and that’s the problem, as i see it, there are two teams and two players, the Mets, Cardinals, bay and holliday, and both players are trying to milk every last dollar and minute with very little leverage… and so we wait…
By the way, McCarron believes the Yankees are not interested in free-agent OF-DH Jermaine Dye, and that free-agent 1B-OF Xavier Nady might even be ‘too expensive.’
Last week, Dan Budreika of FanGraphs took a close, statistical look at Mike Pelfrey, who he considers a ‘sleeper, for 2010, during which ‘he will benefit with a little more help from his defense.’
Pelfrey ends the season 10–12 with a 5.03 ERA, compared to going 13–11 with a 3.72 ERA last season.
Jeffrey G sent in the link, with the following comments:
“The key difference between Pelfrey’s 2009 and 2008: his fastball wasn’t doing what it did before. You can chalk this up to three things with a guy his age: one, an injury; two, something mechanical; three, something mental… My presumption is that he sometimes loses whatever focus or mental drive he needs to allow his very talented arm to produce the fastball it has within it; hence we get those innings that just unravel for him.”
…if you look at his stats, as budreika points out, a lot of his struggles last season occurred behind him, in the field… having Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes back in the field all season; a more mature Daniel Murphy at first; and a better defensive second baseman than Luis Castillo; are probably the best things the Mets could do for pelfrey… if he is confident in his defense, i would bet he gains more confidence in his fastball and in throwing strikes… he, like the other pitchers on his staff, had to feel totally alone out there on that mound last season…
…not to mention he’s made 80 starts for his career… so, he’s at about that point where things should finally start to click for him… he pitched a full season last year, labored through it, and i expect, coupled with the better defense, pelfrey will step forward and have a good season in 2010… i’m actually not very concerned for him… it’s the other two, John Maine and Oliver Perez, who have me most worried…
Last year, Pelfrey and Jon Niese were on a pre-season list of red-flagged pitchers by Tom Verducci of SI.com, who said both pitchers could be prone to a poor season in 2009 due to the number of innings pitched in 2008, a.k.a. ‘The Year-After Effect.’
